Trapped
by Theforbiddendarkness
Summary: Raven was trapped in a room with Slade, now he wants something from her. What are his intentions?
1. Chapter 1

She looked through her bedroom window to see the raindrops lightly roll down the glass and watched as the lightning hit the ground. The thunder was rolling as deep and heavy as her heart was beating inside of her chest. She always loved a good storm, but her mind kept lingering. No matter how much she wanted to forget it and move on with her life, she just couldn't help but think about those words he had said to her.

 ** _Enjoy your freedom while it lasts._**

She had always been afraid of him, everyone has. He was Slade, the unpredictable and unbeatable psychopath. He was the man that had spent the last three years hunting down the titans and hurting them. The one man that everyone on the team had nightmares about. The one man that knew everyone's weakness and would exploit it to the point of breaking just for his own amusement. He was the kind of man that should be feared, for these good reasons, and now he set his sights on her. Did he want her to be his apprentice? That would be the most logical explanation, but then again, he had tried that multiple times and failed. He has to be smarter than repeating the same mistake over and over again, but why else would he be after her? She didn't take him for the lustful type and certainly wouldn't take her to torture or kill her... Or would he? Her heart started to beat faster at the thought of what he could want her for... What he could do to her... _Come on, I have to stop thinking like that._

She took a deep breath and cleared her mind, focusing on the raindrops that were slowly running down her window.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door, pulling her away from her thoughts. She looked over to the door and before she could even mumble a sentence to tell that person at the door to go away, a green haired boy entered the room and gave her a cheesy smile.

"Yo, the rest of the team decided we should go for pizza after our sweet victory. You in Rae?" He stood there with a dumb smirk across his face, clearly happy about almost beating Slade in their encounter from that morning. Raven did not care to answer him right away and instead let her head wander back to the dark subject of Slade.

"You alright Rae?"

There was a still silence set in her room between them. She wanted Beast Boy to leave her alone. No one needed to bug her about what happened or about what she should or should not be feeling. She knew that she would be pestered, but instead of being patient, she was just angry. They never seem to leave her in peace. _Why don't they understand?_

"Raven..." Beast Boy muttered shakily. He had broken the silence that she didn't realize she had left him in. He nervously raked a hand through his hair and looked at her .

"I understand you're a little shook up, I mean he is a pretty scary dude, bu-"

That's it, she had had enough."Who said you could just enter my room without my permission? And you can't wait ten seconds for a response without blaming me of being scared? I know you have an ignorant animal brain, but you can't even learn manners?" She felt bad as soon as the words came falling out of her mouth. Maybe she was taking this too far or she was just too tired. Or maybe this whole Slade thing is just taking a toll on her.

In a defeated manner he replied hesitantly, "Alright... I'll just tell the others you don't wanna come... Sorry Rae..." He turned away from her and started to move away, but she walked forward and lightly grabbed his shoulder. He turned around and gave her a hopeful look.

"Sorry Beast Boy, just tell the others that I will be down in a minute"

As soon as he heard that, he perked up and gave her a big grin. "Will do." And with that, he walked out of her room and down the hall.

She stood there silently. She knew why she had agreed to go with them, but she was already starting to regret it. _Lets see how this goes._ She grabbed her cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders and felt comforted, even if it was slight. She walked over to her window and took one last look at the rain falling freely from the sky then walked out of the room to go meet up with her friends.

* * *

"Friend Raven, you do not seem to share the happy. Is my friend doing okay?" Starfire looked at Raven in confusion.

She had not realized that she got lost in her thoughts once again. This was going to be a hard thing to stop doing. She realized just how much she was lost in her own mind lately. She turned towards the alien girl while forcing a tiny smile on her face. She couldn't bring herself to disappoint Star, she was only being a concerned friend anyway.

"Yes Starfire, I am fine. Just thinking about earlier is all." It was the truth but she still felt a feeling of guilt in her chest when telling her friends this.

The black haired boy sitting in the corner then spoke up, "We're just glad you're okay after you were trapped in that room with Slade. With knowing him, things could have ended much worse than they did."

"Robin is right, he could have critically injured or taken you. He could have even ended your life... I don't know... But what I do know is how delicious this pizza is!" The half man-half robot then scooped up several slices of pizza and shoved them down his throat, basically inhaling them.

Raven knew that Cyborg was only trying to lighten up the mood a bit, even after saying something so dark, so she decided to play along.

"Don't you ever get tired of stuffing your face?" she teased.

This is the point where Beast Boy decided to interject, "Don't you ever get tired of being a creepy grump?"

Though she knew he was only joking, she'd be lying if she said it didn't hurt a little bit.

"Oh, never. It's all I live for." She responded sarcastically.

She looked around at her friends enjoying themselves. They all seemed so happy... If only things could stay like that forever. She wished she could spend the rest of her life right there in that room, all her friends happy and chatting, not having a care in the world. This wasn't going to last and she knew that, they all knew that, but she knew that it would be shorter than they expect.

She watched Cyborg stand up and throw a piece of pepperoni at Beast Boy, causing him to jump up in disgust. "That's mean dude, you know I don't like meat!"

"I thought that's only about eating it."

Beast Boy then picked up some cheese and threw it directly in Cyborg's face, causing Cyborg to throw an entire slice of pizza at Beast Boy. But instead he missed and hit Starfire, which pissed off Robin and escalated into a full out food brawl in the middle of the restaurant.

Raven just sat there watching and finally decided that it was enough. "Guys, I think management really hates us now, so it might be best for us to pay and leave."

Robin sat down and slicked his hair back, giving his cooled off impression. _Great, back to the leader mindset._ "Actually, I agree with Raven, let's get out of their hair and go home."

* * *

Slade sat at a large desk overlooking a wall full of monitors filled with footage from live cameras throughout Jump City. Some of the screens had streets and public buildings in them, but most were different views throughout the Titan's tower. The one he was currently focused on was of a dark purple room filled with old lanterns and shelves full of books. On the far wall was a round bed covered in black and purple damask patterned sheets. He was focused on that camera for one reason, which was the fair skinned girl sprawled out under the sheets.

Suddenly the door opened to an older gentleman wearing a suit.

"Sorry to interrupt sir, but it is 3:15. I came to alarm you just as you had wanted me to."

"Thank you Wintergreen. Now you may go." And with that, the older gentleman took a bow and exited the room.

Slade then got out of the chair, grabbed his things, then left

* * *

Raven suddenly jerked awake after having a nightmare. She looked around her while noticing that her pillows and blankets had been strewn on the floor around her. Pausing, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. _It'll be fine. You'll be alright. Nothing to worry about._ She could feel herself calming down and decided to open her eyes. She looked around the room again and this time she noticed something odd. There was something sticking out on her window sill between her heavy curtains. Suddenly she felt her heart start to race and her breathing quicken. _It's probably nothing. Just something you placed there and forgot about. No need to get all worked up over it._ Pulling herself off her bed, she walked slowly to her window. Before reluctantly pulling the curtains aside, she took another deep breath. It was a piece of folded up paper, a note. Before she even got a chance to read it, a sudden knock was heard, startling her.

"Who is it?"

A calm voice was heard on the other side, "Raven, it's me Robin. I really want to talk to you about yesterday."

She didn't really want to talk about it, but she knew she had to or he would just keep bothering her.

"Sure. Come in."

Robin walked in casually with his normal attire and sat on the edge of her bed avoiding looking at her.

"I just want to know the details of what happened. Like exactly how you two got trapped alone and anything he might have said or done to you. I know you don't exactly find this fun, but as the team's leader, I need to know these things." Raven watched him rub his neck as he was saying this. Almost like he was nervous.

"Of course." She replied while sitting next to him on the bed. "After everyone split up to fight the bots I went to the far left corner behind the large conveyor belt. Apparently, that was the wrong way to go because after a couple crashes nearby, the whole belt crumbled, trapping me in the corner. The same dark corner that Slade was using to hide in. As soon as I realized I was stuck, he started to talk. All he really said was that it was an interesting catch. That "Not many snatch the Raven." You know how he usually speaks..." **_Enjoy your freedom while it lasts._**

She wanted to tell him, but she couldn't. For now she would leave that part out of her story.

"Yeah, I do... Thanks for telling me without a hassle. I appreciate it. If you need anything or remember something else you want to tell me, I'll always be here." Robin got up and started to walk out.

"Wait, Robin..." She started to change her mind about telling him, but couldn't go through with it. He'd blow it way out of proportion.

"Yeah Rae?"

"I- Thank you... for caring..." He was almost shocked by her words and took a minute to find his own.

"Of course. You know we all care."

As he left the room she let out a big sigh. She knew he would come to her and ask her these details, but why did he chose now? She looked at the clock. 3:47. What caused him to come here this early in the morning?

Suddenly she remembered what she was doing before he had interrupted her. She swallowed her nerves and slowly studied the note. It looked handwritten. She opened it and read.

 _ **My dear Raven,**_

 _ **Like I have stated before, I do hope you are enjoying your freedom, for it will not last long. As you have guessed, I will be coming after you. You can warn your friends if you like, but no matter. You will be mine to do with what I please.**_

 _ **Until then,**_

 _ **Slade.**_


	2. Chapter 2

Raven sat on the soft couch while drinking her tea and reading a book. She was trying to relax, but for the life of her, she couldn't. She could barely keep her powers from destroying her surroundings. Slade was out there, and he was after her. The worst part is that he's gone completely off the grid. No one has spotted him in public, he hasn't attacked, and he can't be tracked. So far it has been seven days since the last time he was spotted. Some of the titans have taken this as good news and celebrated it, hoping he would never show up ever again, but Raven knew better. She knew that he would come back and he would have a plan. Something that no one would like.

She sighed and examined the room around her. It was her favorite room in the entire building, the library, and she was given full reign of designing the room. The titans figured that she'd use it the most, so they let her pick how everything was going to look. The walls were painted a dark scarlet color and the bookcases were all exactly six feet tall and made out of a dark oak wood. The room wasn't too big and could only fit about twenty bookcases, so all shelves were completely lined with books. In the far back corner was the sitting area with a couch, two chairs, a rug, a table, and a small wood burning fireplace. It wasn't huge, but it was cozy and it gave Raven some comfort.

"I'm suspicious too you know."

His voice behind her caught her off guard and she turned her body to see him walking up behind the couch and leaning on it. She knew that he was going to use the conversation to try and pry answers from her, but she was smarter than that and decided to go along with it.

"Oh, Robin, I didn't hear you come in. Now, what are you suspicious about?"

"The same thing as you, I'm suspicious about Slade's disappearance." _Of course. Robin, you're getting predictable._

She gave him a confused look. "Who said that I was suspicious? I'm 'celebrating' just like everyone else."

"Come on Rae... I can see it on your face. You almost look like you're nervous. And I found you here... the place you go to find comfort."

"I don't find comfort in something as silly as a room."

"I know you better than that Rae, you're not going to fool me. I can see the anxiety and tension in you." He walked around and sat down beside her on the couch. "You know you can tell me anything that is going on. I care about you and want to help you in any way I can, but I can only do that if you tell me what happened." He gave her a solemn look and waited for her answer.

After hearing him accuse her and seeing the look he was shooting at her, her temper grew hot within seconds. She could feel herself getting mad and couldn't help but raising her voice. "Stop acting like you know me so well, you really don't. That's why you're accusing me of hiding something and being scared when I'm not!" She stood up and turned towards him. "Maybe you're the one who feels that way and you're just taking it out on me!" A lamp hanging off the wall then explodes, sending shards of glass flying everywhere. "And even if I was, who said I would need your help? I am perfectly capable of handling myself!" Then a second lamp bursts, this time Raven was hit with the flying glass and a piece got stuck in her leg. "Son of a-" She lost her balance and lightly fell back on the couch.

"Raven... please, let me just help you." He put out his hand to signal for her to let him see her leg. She sighed and reluctantly laid her leg across his lap. He carefully examined the wound and made sure to be as soft as possible when pulling out the shard of glass still left in her skin. He saw her wince in pain and grabbed her hand. "It's alright, I'm almost done." In that moment she felt silly, like a kid getting a small cut cleaned up by their parents, but it didn't bother her. She felt safe and cared for by Robin and admired how gentle he was being with her, even after she just yelled at him. Once the glass was out, he tore off a piece of fabric from his cape and wrapped it around the cut.

"Look, I'm sorry for ye-" She was cut off by him. "You don't need to apologize. I know you're stressed and didn't mean to take it out like that." She didn't know exactly how to respond so she went with the first thing she could think of. "It's getting pretty late... Could you help me to my room?"

He immediately stood up and put his arm around her for support. "Of course."

For the next ten minutes a gentle Robin walked a wobbly Raven down the hallway and stairs to her room. Once they got the door he hesitated and looked down at the ground as if in deep thought.

"Robin, what is the matter?"

"I just... I don't want you to sleep alone tonight..."

"What?!" She had expected him to do something protective, but not go that far. She could feel her rage bubbling in her throat again. "No, Robin that is nonsense! I sleep alone every night of my entire life, why is this any different? Is this just an excuse to watch me sle-"

"No Rae, don't think of it like that. I just want someone to be in the room with you in case anything happens." He finally looked up at her face and gave her a pleading look.

She could feel her anger dying and her defense slipping. She could understand where he was coming from."Only me? No other titan?

"No, I will make the other three stay together. Like I said earlier, I am suspicious. I know how Slade is... This is dangerous for him to disappear."

"Let me guess, I have to share a bed with Starfire..."

"No, not if you don't want to. I'll stay with you in here. And don't worry, I won't be in bed with you. I'll make my own space on the floor."

Raven stood there for a minute thinking about her answer. She really didn't want anyone in her room, but she did have to admit she is nervous about Slade and she just really didn't feel like arguing with Robin anymore.

"Alright, fine. But don't think I am happy about this."

As soon as Robin heard her answer he had a look of relief wash over his face. "Alright, you stay here and I'll go inform the others about their 'sleepover'."

* * *

Raven laid on her bed and listened to the sound of the wind on the sides of her room. Her room was built on the corner of the tower, so when the wind was especially fierce, it would wrap around the outside walls and create a relaxing noise. It sounded like light scratches and howling, which normally helped Raven calm down, but right now it was only putting her more on edge. _What if Slade shows up tonight and hurts Robin? It would be all my fault. Why did Robin have to persist on staying in here? I can handle myself._ She looked at the raven haired boy that was asleep on the floor. Even while he was asleep on the floor, his face still told stories of pain and sorrow. _Does he ever get any peace? While all the other titans are care free, he bears the weight of the world._

She was jerked out of her thoughts when she heard a loud thud on her window. She felt chills radiate throughout her entire body. _I am NOT that frightened. This isn't me._ She watched Robin wake from the noise and he got up to investigate what happened. He moved the heavy currents, opened the window, and looked down.

"It was a bird... Looks like it was a crow or a raven hit the window. Everything is fine, no need to be frightened."

She answered quickly "I wasn't frightened, just surprised."

He smiled. "Whatever you want to call it. Come on, get back to sleep. You need it."

Before she was able to slip back into her thoughts, sleep had decided to take her instead.

* * *

She was home, not at the tower, but home on Azarath. She was on one of the main streets, though she couldn't remember which one. There was no soul in sight and the sun was beating down on her pale skin. She decided to walk down the road and see where it would lead, maybe she could even find someone. While she was walking and taking in the tall buildings around her, she had intense feelings of nostalgia mixed with her anxiousness, but she also had feelings of joy for seeing her home again. As she was going further and further down the road, the buildings started to go from brand new to slightly damaged to completely destroyed while the sun started to get darker and darker until she reached the point where there wasn't a trace of her previous home. Where was she? She couldn't see anything except a thick fog that had surrounded her completely. She called out, but there was no answer, so she kept walking. The fog finally started to dissipate and she could see a tall building about two hundred feet in front of her. A building that was shaped like a T. Why was she brought to the titan's tower? She walked in through the front door and called out for Robin or Beast Boy, or anyone, but there was again no answer. The inside of the tower was dark and empty and just looked overall abandoned. She took the elevator up into the OPS room and once the doors opened she took a big gasp. Everything was ruined and falling apart. Some things in the back looked burned like the couch and the counters, but the front of the room looked like an animal had attacked it and won. She didn't want to linger in this upsetting mess, so she turned out of the room and starting walking down the corridor for all of the bedrooms. She got a terrible felling in her gut that felt like someone was stabbing her stomach repeatedly every time she passed one of her teammate's doors, so she took that as a sign and ignored them, no matter how much her curiosity was telling her to just take a quick look. She settled on the idea of looking into her own room at least so she could satisfy even a portion of her curiosity. Once she reached her own door her feet started to get heavier and heavier to the point where she could barely take the next step into through the doorway. Once she was able to overcome the sudden weight change and get into her bedroom she immediately felt a deep regret. Instead of her furniture or a mess or anything else she had expected, she had found that the entire room was covered in mirrors. She turned around to leave her room, but to her horror, she found that the door had also turned into a mirror. There was no escape. She looked back into the room filled with a hundred identical versions of her lining the walls of the room. _Maybe one of these mirrors could be a way out._ She walked up to one of the mirrors and gently placed her hand on it. She was half expecting her hand to go through it and find a secret exit, but her hand just felt the solid mirror. _Maybe a different one. Wait, what is that?_ She examined her body in the mirror and found that a very tiny piece of skin on her arm was sparkling as if there was metal underneath. She moved her hand to feel that patch of skin when she noticed something else. Next to the spot that sparkles there was a little sliver of skin that was poking out. She carefully reached over and mindlessly pulled on the part that was extending from her skin and slowly peeled it off, causing her to also peel off several inches of her skin. Underneath was actually metal. Normally that would surprise her, but this time she only felt fear spread like waves throughout her body and anchor her feet to the ground. It was the dark grey metal that had been very familiar to her. It was the metal that Slade wears. She was so focused on what was under her skin that she didn't even see Slade himself walked up behind her.

"Do you like it?" He walked directly behind her and placed a cold gloved hand over the top of her arm. She immediately threw his hand off her and turned around, facing him.

"Get away from me. Get out of here." She gave him a disgusted look. "Get out of my dream."

He gave a light chuckle that made the hairs on her arms stand up. "Raven, I can say it is quite impressive that you know I am real and not just part of your dream and for that I will do exactly what you wish."

She was then abruptly pulled out of her dreams and back into the real world where she felt something cold covering her mouth. She slowly opened her eyes to see Slade sitting on the edge of her bed, his one eye looking at her.

"Raven, be careful what you wish for." She could feel her heartbeat race even faster than her thoughts. _What am I going to do? What is HE going to do?_ She started to get that feeling of dread and fear, but this time it boiled into anger. _How dare he enter the tower, how dare he enter my room, and especially, how dare he enter my dreams!_ Next to him was a floating bookshelf wrapped in a black shadow that was ready to be thrown directly at the man sitting at her bedside, but she paused before she could harm him. _I don't want to wake Robin and make this his problem. This is my fight._

"I'm glad you knew better than to hit me. Maybe this is going to be easier to take you with me than I thought."

"She isn't going anywhere." Robin apparently had awoken and was standing in the corner with his staff in hand. He was ready to make this his fight.

"Silly bird, I never said tonight. No, tonight was just to play." Slade removed his hand from Raven and stood up, facing Robin.

Robin charged at Slade, but Slade just slid out of the way and grabbed his staff, keeping Robin from attacking again. "But I think I've changed my mind." He let go of the staff and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

As soon as he knew Slade was gone, Robin ran over to Raven and sat down on the bed, worried. "Are you okay? What happened? Are you hurt?" He reached for her, but she pulled away and got out of the bed.

"I'm fine Robin, you saw everything that happened. Just leave me alone." She trudged over to her closet and grabbed a cloak to put over her shoulders. "I will be back later."

"Raven don't go, you shouldn't be alone. Not after that." He came over to her to try and comfort her, but she pulled away from him.

"Don't act like you understand and you know what's best for me. Just because you are my leader doesn't mean you always know what is right." Raven walked out of the room, leaving Robin alone to his thoughts and feelings.

* * *

Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. He was putting all his anger into the punching bag that had clearly taken a couple of beatings in its lifetime. _My plan would have worked if he hadn't been there. Since when did the titans have sleepovers anyway?_ _Why didn't I just put the boy out of his misery and take the girl? No, I can't think like that if I want her to ever work with me._ Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right.

"Excuse me sir, may I ask what happened?" Wintergreen was inquisitive about the events that had obviously not worked out.

"I didn't account for the extra titan that was sleeping on her floor. My mistake. I should have accounted for every possible scenario, but I got ahead of myself." Left. Right. Left. Right.

"Will you be trying again anytime soon?"

"I will try again in three days, but not in the same way. This time it will work." Left. Right.

"Do you know how you will do it?"

"I have some ideas." Left. Right.

"What will you do with her once you're successful?"

Slade stopped punching and turned to look at Wintergreen. "You're getting ahead of yourself with these questions. Know your place Wintergreen."

"Yes sir, sorry sir. Am I pardoned?"

Slade turned back around to face the bag. "Yes, you may go." Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right.

* * *

"Azarath metrion zinthos. Azarath metrion zinthos. Azarath metrion zinthos. Azarath matr-" The door to the library slowly squeaked open. Without even looking she had a good guess on who it was.

"Raven, I know you don't want to and I know how much you probably hate me right now, but we need to talk. Please. Without yelling."

She sighed. "Alright Robin. Let's talk." She got off the floor and tucked herself into the chair next to the lit fireplace.

He walked over to the chair that was adjacent to the couch and took a thinking position with his head on his hands. "Just... Rae... What's been going on lately with Slade? I know there is something you're not telling me."

She stared into the fire and watched it dance. **_Enjoy your freedom while it lasts._** "What I told you he said when we were trapped together... All of it was true, but he also told me one other thing. He said that I should enjoy my freedom while it lasts. That's when you guys came and freed me. Then the other night he left a note on my window that said that he was coming for me and that my friends couldn't help." She felt like a weight lifted off her chest as she told Robin this.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He had a look of concern on his face.

"I couldn't... Everyone was so happy and I can handle myself. I never actually believed Slade would go as far as to break into my room while I was asleep."

"But this was threatening your safety. Whether you can handle it or not, you should tell us when someone threatens to take you. We care about you. I car-"

"I know. You care about me. You've told me that enough Robin, but if you truly cared then you would try to understand why I didn't tell you."

Robin stood up and walked over to one of the large oak shelves, his back turned towards her. "Do you not understand? Raven, I hold more than care for you. I have feelings for you and with Slade wanting to take you... I can't handle that thought."

She finally looked away from the fire and up at him. "What do you mean you have feelings for me?"

He turned towards her. "Raven... I like you... a lot. I think I may even... love... you."

She looked away from him and back at the raging fire. She couldn't understand how he had feelings for her, but everything made sense once she thought about it. _But how can he like me? I mean, there is beautiful cheery Starfire who is practically obsessed with him and he falls for the lonely sarcastic grump?_

"So... Do you just not have a reaction? Robin was nervous about being completely honest with his feelings and her falling silent.

"No." She mumbled and turned her head towards him. "What do we do about Slade?"

He sighed and sat back down on the couch. "Well first off, I don't want you in your room anymore. Second, I don't want you to be alone at any time, which I know you don't like, but it is necessary."

She was about to argue him but decided against it. All he wanted to do was help and keep her safe and there was no way she wouldn't be monitored, even if she was against it. "Okay, fine."

"Good." He was surprised at her answer but didn't want to question it. "Third, next time he tries, we attack."


End file.
